Peter Alliss says fight for women’s rights in golf has ‘caused mayhem’

[TomandJerry]

The veteran BBC commentator Peter Alliss has said that the corporation should have tried harder to win the rights to the Open Championship and that attempts to give women equal rights in golf have “caused mayhem”.

Recent legislation has given women more rights in golf clubs, while St Andrews and Royal St George’s have both voted to admit female members for the first time. But Alliss told the Radio Times magazine that equality for women had “buggered up the game for a lot of people”.

“There’s been a hell of a row because four golf courses that hold the Open Championship didn’t have women members,” he said. “I’m told the Ladies Golf Union has lost 150,000 members since equality for women came in. Hundreds of women have left golf clubs because they’ve gone from paying half fare to full fare. It’s caused mayhem.

“All of the wives of members at these clubs could have used the facilities for free. When I was at Muirfield a couple of years ago talking to a few of the lady members, I said: ‘What about this equality? You must be happy about that?’ ‘God no,’ they said. ‘We can come here and do what we like, we can play golf and don’t pay anything.’”

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/07/peter-alliss-women-equality-golf-clubs-open-championship#comments

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He's a man of his time. A time when sexism, casual racism and homophobia were not only acceptable, but expected in people.

It's time they pensioned him off.His time has passed.

 

[Foul Play Rocks]

Women ! I don't think they know what they want anymore.

 

[father_and_son]

My favourite golfing story is about a number of Lady Members enjoying a drink on the balcony overlooking the final green and a group of four Gentleman Members arrive to finish their round below the ladies. One of the men is having a mare of a round and after missing an easy putt unleashes a flood of swear words, cursing the green, his clubs, the balls, and indeed, the Lord above.

The Ladies duly complain to the Club Chairman and after the next Members meeting the situation is resolved... Lady Members will not longer be subjected to the foul language rising from the final green as they are no longer allowed on the balcony!

 

[Mackenzie]

Fair enough.

He's just haveing his views.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

He's a man of his time. A time when sexism, casual racism and homophobia were not only acceptable, but expected in people.

It's time they pensioned him off.His time has passed.

Tell me where women have bought the land, built a course allowed women only members and are running it profitably?

 

[Man of Harveys]

A lady is having her first golf lesson. She is terrible: hooking and slicing the ball all over the place. Eventually the instructor has had enough: "Madam, you're not holding the club correctly. Please, try and hold it with a little more respect if you don't mind, that might work. Heavens, maybe hold it...as if it's your husband's penis or something."

She hits the perfect drive: right down the fairway, 250 yards.

The teacher says "Great. Now will you please take that golf club out of your mouth".

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Tell me where women have bought the land, built a course allowed women only members and are running it profitably?

No.

Tell ME when society was set up so that women would have had the opportunity to do this.

Your argument is bit pathetic, really. I would imagine that these courses were built by white men too - so is it justifiable in your eyes that black people should also be banned?

The World, whether you like it or not, has moved on. Those who used to be excluded can now join in, and should be encouraged to do so.

 

[Nibble]

As Germaine Greer said, women should stop asking permission and just get on with setting up their own institutions. Germaine had an amazing rack when she was younger.

 

[Pavilionaire]

He's a man of his time. A time when sexism, casual racism and homophobia were not only acceptable, but expected in people.

It's time they pensioned him off.His time has passed.

The way I read the OP Alliss is actually speaking on behalf of women who have been priced out of golf because of a hike in the lady membership fees.

And I don't know about homophobia but I've heard Peter Alliss commentating for many years on Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, YE Yang, Lee Trevino, Angel Cabrera etc and I don't remember any inference or suggestion of racism.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Never mind golf, they should be banned from the football, and their kids!

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I read the article this morning. Strikes me that if golf clubs have a serious problem with fewer people playing then they would offer part time memberships where anyone, male or female, can play at restricted times for a lower membership fee. I suspect they have plenty of members and are not inclined to open their greens to the riff-raff that might not be able to afford full membership. So rather than them being sexist, they are probably being 'classist'.

 

[Questions]

In my younger days I was a keen golfer and can remember one night when my girlfriend confessed to me that she was a hooker. I told her if she could just change her grip a little she could sort that straight out.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

The way I read the OP Alliss is actually speaking on behalf of women who have been priced out of golf because of a hike in the lady membership fees.

And I don't know about homophobia but I've heard Peter Alliss commentating for many years on Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, YE Yang, Lee Trevino, Angel Cabrera etc and I don't remember any inference or suggestion of racism.

I agree with you. Apart from being the voice of golf he and his wife devote their lives to their respective charities. I've had the honour of having him and his wife eating in my pub (now sold) on numerous occasions down the years. They are a very devoted charming couple. His wife is very active in the legal side looking after children and women's rights.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

No.

Tell ME when society was set up so that women would have had the opportunity to do this.

Your argument is bit pathetic, really. I would imagine that these courses were built by white men too - so is it justifiable in your eyes that black people should also be banned?

The World, whether you like it or not, has moved on. Those who used to be excluded can now join in, and should be encouraged to do so.

I hear what you're saying, but Alliss has a point when the LGU has actually lost members. Surely, whilst equal rights should be the way forward, it appears to have had a detrimental impact on the numbers playing with an LGU affiliated club.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

No.

Tell ME when society was set up so that women would have had the opportunity to do this.

Your argument is bit pathetic, really. I would imagine that these courses were built by white men too - so is it justifiable in your eyes that black people should also be banned?

The World, whether you like it or not, has moved on. Those who used to be excluded can now join in, and should be encouraged to do so.

No (because there arn't any)
For the last 50+ years women have been earning enough/inheriting land etc to manage a golf course somewhere but NONE can be bothered. Why is this?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

That's because golf is a very silly game

 

[jimbob5]

I like to model myself on Peter Alliss.

 

[gregbrighton]

The problem here isn't equal rights for women but greedy golf clubs trying to cash in on it and backfiring as a result or hiking up fees to deter women golfers in an attempt to maintain it as a male preserve.

 

[KZNSeagull]

The way I read the OP Alliss is actually speaking on behalf of women who have been priced out of golf because of a hike in the lady membership fees.

Yes, this is correct - that is a very misleading headline as you expect the article to be full of sexism, but it isn't. There are comments to that effect too, but they have been lost somewhat.

One of the comments says that at their particular club, the effect of the equality bill is that only 5% of ladies wanted to become full members, the rest were happy as they were, whereas over 50 men wanted to downgrade their memberships to be the same as the ladies as they did not play at weekends, so it had a detrimental effect on income that way as well.

There was also a bit on Sky News last night about golf club memberships declining - something like 120,000 fewer men and 35,000 fewer women members since 2000, so memberships have been declining anyway, not just from this change to lady membership.

But it does sound like clubs need to do more and be more flexible in their membership structures. My old club (Haywards Heath) had a large ladies section, one of the largest in the country I believe, but not sure what it is like now. Essentially there were all sorts of memberships available, both male and female, full and part, with strict terms as to when you could and could not play. Seemed to work well.